TikTok: Technical Issues or Platform Enforcement?
The Steady State
Availability of TikTok in the World
Over the past weekend, like many other organizations and users, The Steady State experienced significant disruptions in our TikTok service.
For nearly a full day, videos could not be loaded at all. When service appeared to resume, content that would ordinarily reach tens of thousands of viewers was registering only single digit views, despite our account having more than 35,000 followers. At various points, posted videos were replaced with notices stating that the content violated TikTok’s “Community Guidelines,” without further explanation.
Yesterday, The Steady State hosted a TikTok Live “Ask Me Anything” event. In the middle of the live discussion, a red banner appeared stating that the stream had violated Community Guidelines by discussing “potentially harmful misinformation.” At the moment that banner appeared, the discussion was focused on how to avoid misinformation and propaganda, specifically by relying on authoritative sources such as the Congressional Research Service.
For at least a period of time following the warning, viewer comments appeared to stop entirely. Comments later resumed, but the interruption was noticeable to both hosts and viewers.
We are continuing to assess what occurred and whether these disruptions reflect technical issues, automated moderation errors, or changes in platform enforcement practices.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 360 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.
Given the arrests of Don Lemon and several other journalists within the past 24-48 hours, it would not be unreasonable to raise the possibility that the disruption you’re experiencing is but another element of Project 2025. One might also point to the appearance of DNI Tulsi Gabbard accompanying FBI officers in Georgia to remove voting records, purpose of the removal not revealed. Just because you’re behaving like a paranoid in expressing concern over these events doesn’t mean “they” aren’t out to get you.
This is Maoist nihilism.